Orange Bowl Paddle Championships

So Boise State beats Virginia Tech in September, then Virginia Tech follows that up with a loss to Division 1-AA James Madison. Boise State drops one game to rival Nevada and winds up in an obscure bowl in Las Vegas. Virginia Tech ends up in the Orange Bowl against 11-1 Stanford.

While we'll never understand the BCS system, one thing is certain: The Orange Bowl Paddle Championship Sunday, January 2 is a must-make event for the south Florida paddling community and a fantastic way to celebrate the new year. And a whole lot more transparent.

The event, a precursor to the Orange Bowl game on Monday, features a five-mile elite race, a 3-mile recreational race and a relay event and includes nearly $8,000 in prize money. The elite course weaves through inland estuaries between the high rises of Miami.

The best part about the Orange Bowl Paddle Championships? All proceeds benefit Big Sisters, Big Brothers of greater Miami and the event includes a fantastic demo where organizers encourage participants to loan their boards to kids to get them paddling. “We are an officially sanctioned event by the Orange Bowl Committee,” says race organizer Ken Russell. “We’re expecting over 200 paddlers and have over 100 disadvantaged kids and their mentors who are participating in the largest ever first timers paddle clinic.”

The clinic will be taught by Packet Casey, the East Coast’s winningest paddler, and Brenda Lowe of Survivor Nicaragua.